A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for the designation of common carriers not subject to the jurisdiction of a State commission as eligible telecommunications carriers.
Public Law 105-125 · S. 1354 · 105th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Dec 1, 1997 · Science, Technology, Communications
Sponsor: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Cosponsors (5): Sen. Ben Campbell, Sen. Daniel Inouye,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), upon request, to designate a common carrier providing telephone exchange service and exchange access that is not subject to the jurisdiction of a State commission as an eligible telecommunications carrier (eligible to receive universal service support) for a telephone service area designated by the FCC.
Authorizes the FCC, with respect to an area served by a rural telephone company, and requires the FCC, in the case of all other areas, to designate more than one common carrier as an eligible carrier for such a designated service area, provided each additional requesting carrier meets eligibility requirements. Requires the FCC, before designating an additional eligible telecommunications carrier for an area served by a rural telephone company, to find that such designation is in the public interest.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 12 actions.
- Dec 1, 1997Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 105-125.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Nov 19, 1997PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Nov 13, 1997FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Bliley moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
- Nov 9, 1997FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
- Nov 4, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
- Oct 31, 1997CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.